Your healthcare provider should do blood tests to check how well your liver is working before you begin treatment with IXEMPRA and as needed during treatment. If blood tests show that you have liver problems, do not receive injections of IXEMPRA along with capecitabine. If you have liver problems, taking these medicines together could increase your chance of serious infection and death due to a very low white blood cell count (neutropenia).

You should not have your injection of IXEMPRA if you are allergic to medicines that contain Cremophor® EL* (polyoxyethylated castor oil) or if you have a low white blood cell count or a low platelet count. Continue to full Important Safety Information below

IXEMPRA a prescription medicine, used to treat breast cancer when certain medicines have not worked or no longer work can be used alone or with capecitabine.

About Metastatic Breast Cancer

You may have been living with cancer for a while now. Or your cancer may have gone away and come back. Either way, learning that your breast cancer has spread may change the way you think about your cancer, your treatment, and your life.

When breast cancer spreads
For a small number of women, their breast cancer has already spread (metastasized) by the time they receive their diagnosis. Other women may be receiving treatment, but their breast cancer is not responding to the treatment. And other women may have been in remission for months or years, but then their breast cancer has come back.

Breast cancer spreads when cancer cells break away from the tumor in the breast and spread to other parts of the body. The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes or the tissue near the tumor. This is called locally advanced breast cancer. Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body is called metastatic cancer. Breast cancer may spread to the bones, liver, or lungs.

IXEMPRA® (ixabepilone) as a treatment option
Once your breast cancer has spread, your treatment goals may change to slowing the growth of cancer. Your doctor may consider treating you with IXEMPRA. IXEMPRA is a prescription medicine used to treat
locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer following certain treatments. IXEMPRA can be used alone or with another cancer medicine called Xeloda® (capecitabine).

Important Safety Information about IXEMPRA

Your healthcare provider should do blood tests to check how well your liver is working before you begin treatment with IXEMPRA and as needed during treatment. If blood tests show that you have liver problems, do not receive injections of IXEMPRA along with capecitabine. If you have liver problems, taking these medicines together could increase your chance of serious infection and death due to a very low white blood cell count (neutropenia).

What Is IXEMPRA® (ixabepilone)?

IXEMPRA is a prescription medicine used to treat locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer following certain treatments. IXEMPRA can be used alone or with another cancer medicine called Xeloda® (capecitabine).

Talking With Your
Treatment Team About IXEMPRA

If you are wondering about your treatment options, you may want to ask your healthcare provider:

  • Where has my breast cancer spread?
  • How can my breast cancer be treated now that it has spread?
  • What should I tell you before I start treatment?
  • What are the goals for my treatment?

If you have already been prescribed IXEMPRA, you may want to ask your doctor or nurse:

  • How may IXEMPRA help treat breast cancer that has spread?
  • What are the possible side effects of IXEMPRA?

Metastatic

Cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body

Metastatic

Cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

IXEMPRA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
*Cremophor is a registered trademark of BASF AG.
Xeloda is a registered trademark of Roche Laboratories.
© 2010 Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Chemotherapy

A type of cancer treatment that uses certain medicines to destroy cancer cells. It can also harm healthy cells

Breast Cancer

A type of cancer treatment that uses certain medicines to destroy cancer cells. It can also harm healthy cells

Anthracycline

A type of medicine that damages the DNA in cancer cells, causing them to die

Anthracycline

A type of medicine that damages the DNA in cancer cells, causing them to die

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

Lymph nodes

Small masses of tissue that are an important part of the immune system. The lymph nodes act as filters that trap harmful things in the body

Metastatic

Cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body

Preauthorization

When the insurance company decides if a treatment is medically necessary for the patient and will be paid for by the insurance company

Taxane

A type of medicine that stops cancer cells from dividing

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

Metastatic

Cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

Locally advanced

Cancer that has spread from the breast to nearby tissue or lymph nodes

Metastatic

Cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body

Taxane

A type of medicine that stops cancer cells from dividing

Anthracycline

A type of medicine that damages the DNA in cancer cells, causing them to die

Lymph nodes

Small masses of tissue that are an important part of the immune system. The lymph nodes act as filters that trap harmful things in the body